Today my boss came down really hard on me in front of everyone. I was so embarrassed. What should I do now?

Question

I am an administrative assistant. I've been at this job for four months and so far I think I've done pretty well.

Today, right as I walked in the door, my boss took one look at me and said, right in front of everyone there, "I want to talk to you. I thought I told you to send an email to so-and-so about the meeting change. He says he didn't get it and he drove 50 miles down here yesterday and we weren't even here." I tried to explain that I had contacted him, but my boss just walked away rolling her eyes. Her attitude was clearly, "I'll deal with you later."

I went to my desk and pulled up the email that I had sent to him. I also hadn't deleted most stuff out of my inbox and found an email that he sent me back confirming he could attend on the new date!

I showed it to my boss and all she said was, "Oh, well," and walked away. No apology or anything.

I'm still working as a temp, but this is the third time something like this has happened. Should I stay or should I get out now?

Answer 1

Since you are considering leaving anyway, why not talk to your boss and let her know that repeated incidents like this aren't necessary. You'd appreciate it if she contacted you privately and discussed anything that may be 'wrong' rather than making a scene in from of other staff members only to discover later that you had done nothing wrong after all.

If the talk doesn't go well or she just brushes you off, then I'd definitely start looking for another place to work. That kind of boss isn't worth the hassle....we spend too many hours of our life at work to have them be unpleasant.

Answer 2

I've run into this situation times before in the past. Sometimes a boss will rush into judgement and accuse someone of doing or not doing something on time or correctly. This is a trick many managers or supervisors use to shame another employee when things go wrong.
The best thing you can do is sit down with your boss and explain to him that you are trying to do the best job you can. His berating you in front of other employees was embarrasing and should not have happened.
You should tell him it was embarrasing to be put through that in front of your coworkers. Explain to him that you did send the email and that you have a copy of the sent email. Perhaps you should tell him that maybe you should have tried to contact the person by phone also in that case, but you are not at fault here. Don't really apologize to him, but explain the above situation in a pleaseant tone of voice. I don't think you will get an aplology, but if he does, be happy that you have asserted yourself.
If it happens again, I would then suggest you talk to HR and put in a complaint.
Good luck.
P.S. Experience: I have been on both ends of the ladder as an employee being berated like you were and as a boss, but I use what I learned to not treat my employees this way. If they have a problem or make a mistake, I call them aside in my office or their area to let them know and ask their help in correcting any errors.
You'd be surprised as to how my people react. They want to learn and correct their errors and always appreciate the effort I make to help them.
Remember, courtesy and basic kindness gets you a lot more than being a jerk.
Good luck.

Answer 3

You'll actually (unfortunately) find many bosses like that as well as some of an entirely different variety you don't even want to know about! If you don't like the situation you're in then start looking. As long as you are there, however, just keep evidence of everything you've done (obviously, you already know that). Good luck to you!

Just as an aside between you and me...it doesn't always seem to get better. I lost a job end of '02 and was actually happy about it (not about being jobless for 2 months though) because my boss was a b*tch that was intimidated and wanted nothing more to get rid of me. I didn't want to be there, but I had to fulfill a tuition reimbursement agreement (word of advice - don't do tuition deals at work, you get stuck that way)...she found a way to get rid of me and I said not until the tuition as forgiven. I found a better paying job in a much smaller place. I was happy for a short while but soon discovered my immediate supervisor doubling as a menopausal maniac. Seriously. I stuck it out for nearly 4 years before finding another job. That was end of October and they STILL won't leave me alone. I have an even better job, great benefits, etc. But my current boss is pretty much on part with your's.

Answer 4

If this is the third time this has has happened, I can see why they're using a temp service.

If you think it's personal, get out or confront the other party about it. Although the second option my result in a loss of employment.

Most corporate environments have a procedure for complaint resolution. You would be smart to talk to the temp service and let them know what's going on.

or, maybe you're just being over sensitive and want to be the one that's right even though it doesn't matter. Laugh it off at them being an idiot and be more careful next time.

If you're 100% sure that you're right, leave the door open when you have a confrontation and they'll make an *** of themselves.

Answer 5

Girlfriend you need to find a permanent job or another assignment. I couldn't work with a ***** like that. Thank God I work with all men and I was temping here for 6 months until they hired me permanently. Good salary, benefits up the @ss including a 150K life insurance plan, 401 k, prescriptions are $7.00 the works! You need to call me girlfriend because you do need help. I don't know what state you're in but I lived in three and handled myself! New Jersey, Virginia and Texas and now I'm back home! I use to be like I don't take sh!t from no one I don't care about the money it's about my sanity and them breathing! Now I'm on meds everyday just so others can live! LOL! I'm serious!

But you did the right thing by saving the email. Always save everything in writing. It's called covering your @ss!

Answer 6

Our boss does that sometimes too :( It's very annoying, especially since he often does it not just in front of coworkers but customers too... I've had him come in, go off about something and left me with several customers who looked after him astonished and sometimes literally asked "who IS that guy????" Eh, well, that's the boss, now what were we doing... I personally don't care that much since I only have to deal with him occasionally, I usually see him only for a few minutes in the morning, the job itself is nice, the colleagues are nice, but it's still no fun when it happens. If I had to work with him more often I couldn't handle it, I'd have left long ago! How often do you see your boss, do you have to work with her all the time or do you do most of your work alone/with colleagues, and does she only come in some of the time? I get the impression you're stuck with her in a much closer work relationship than me.... :-(

Answer 7

If I were you I would put a complaint in about her at human resources and if you want to be even more evil. Get a couple of your friends together and tell them to call the company and complain on her. I would also have a sit down meeting with her and just tell her how you feel. Its unfair that you have to take her mess when you did the right thing. If you can't get through to her go to her boss and so on.

Answer 8

I would go to one of her managers dont forget your boss isnt queen of the company its not her that ownes the company she is payed to run the company if she is doing a cra* job go to one of her superiors and explain to them what happend and get it down in wrighting so it goes on record then when its on record she cant sack you because it will be clear why and she cant sack you for making a complaint about her however after this she will not like you or you could just be straight with her and say look i can understand why you got worked up but i wasn't in the wrong and you no that now so why haven i had an apology then you will probly get a really pathetic one but it will do right .or you could just leave it and be the one she takes her aggression out on.

Answer 9

I am in that line of work too and it sucks,
we are automatically he first to blame for everything.

I had a scientist trying to send blood cells out, and they have to be refridgerated, and packed properly so they don't go bad.

But whoever printed the shipping label didn't do it correcly so the package got returned, and the cells went bad,
Of course I was to blame, and i didn't even print the label out.

And the same day a fed ex we were shipping to another office got lost. and never delivered, and everyoje came down on me for not sending it, they were still ready to blame me even after I showed my boss, the copy of the shipping label I printed out.



Try talking with her, and let her know that if you do not get more respect, then you will go to a company who will give you the respect,
It's just corperate america is like that no matter where you go.

Answer 10

You've got a real drama queen there. Problem is, they're EVERYWHERE.

Best thing to do is try a variety of responses, in successive order so that she can get a 'clue' that her behavior is off base.

1) act like she's joking with you; try to defuse the situation.

2) pretend she's talking to someone else, and look for that person in the room.

3) Smile and (gently) walk away without responding.

4) Ask a question on a totally unrelated topic, as if she was being normal. Start off with "Oh--that reminds me!"

The power trip is catching you off guard. Arm yourself with these techniques, and others, and polish off your resume so that you can get a job that either pays better for emotional abuse or where you will get off on a better footing because you've been practicing your stuff.